Gondola shelf and bracket



Dec; 27, 1966 c. B. ROLLING. JR

GONDOLA SHELF AND BRACKET Filed April 19, 1965 R o T N E V m (Z7645 3 044 MLSfll d ATTO RN EY United States Patent M 3,294,351 GGNDQILA SHELF AND BRACKET Clark B. Rollins, In, Nashville Wire Products Manufacturing (10., R0. Box 401, Nashville, Tenn. 37202 Filed Apr. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 449,085 7 Claims. (tCl. 248243) This invention relates to a gondola shelf, and more particularly to an adjustable bracket for mounting a shelf on a gondola or other type of shelf support.

One object of this invention is to provide a gondola shelf especially constructed with open ends so that several like shelves may be mounted end-to-end adjacent each other Without any intervening obstructions.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable bracket for a shelf to permit mounting of said shelf on non-uniformly spaced standards.

A further object of this invention is to provide adjustable brackets for mounting a shelf on vertically slotted upright standards having varying spacings between the standards as well as varying spacing between the slots.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable bracket for a shelf adapted to be supported upon an upright standard by projections on the bracket engaging corresponding slots in the standard, in which the bracket is provided with means for varying the spacing of the projections and for varying the horizontal position of the projections relative to the shelf.

A further object of this invention is to provide an adjustable bracket for a shelf, the bracket having projections for engaging vertically spaced slots on an upright standard, the bracket comprising a pair of plate members, each plate member having a projection, one plate member being horizontally movable relative to the shelf, and both plate members being vertically movable relative to each other.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable bracket for a shelf to support uniformly constructed shelves on non-uniformly spaced supporting standards.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a shelf made in accordance with this invention, having a pair of adjustable brackets supporting the shelf at opposite ends on a pair of spaced upright standards on a gondola, shown fragmentarily; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary exploded perspective view showing the right bracket of FIG. 1 dis-assembled from the upright standard.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, FIG. 1 discloses a conventional gondola 10 having upright standards 11 and 12 including vertically spaced slots 13 for receiving projections from brackets upon which the gondola shelves are mounted. Such gondolas are employed in grocery stores and super-markets for supporting and displaying grocery products. However, unless the projections on the brackets have the correct vertical spacing to match the spacing of the slots in the upright standards, then the shelf upon which such a bracket is mounted cannot be supported by those particular standards. Moreover, if the projections at both ends of the shelf do not have spacing equal to the spacing between the slots in opposite standards, then the shelf cannot be supported by those standards. Because different manufacturers of shelves, uprights and gondolas do not observe a uniform gauge for either the standards or the slots, then the difficulty of matching brackets and shelves with standards and gondolas can prove quite troublesome.

3,294,351 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 The shelf 15 disclosed in the drawings, has an openwire construction, the major portion of which comprises a platform section 16 having an upturned forward wall or portion 17 to help support articles upon the shelf 15. The rear portion 18 of the shelf depends from the rear edge of the platform section 16 in close proximity to the gondola 10. Elongated struts 19 and 20 are fixed to the bottom portions of the rear section 18 and extend a substantial distance forward and upwardly where they are secured to the forward bottom portion of the platform section 15, by means such as welding. In conventional types of gondola shelves, the rear portions of the shelves extend upwardly instead of downwardly, and the reinforcing trusses or struts connecting the rear portion to the platform section extend across the ends of the shelves above the platform sections and thereby close or obstruct the ends of the shelves. Consequently if like shelves are arranged end-to-end, then the reinforcing struts prevent the support of any article which might overlap the adjacent ends of a pair of shelves.

On the other hand, it can be seen in FIG. 1 that the ends of the platform section 15 are open because the struts 19 and 20 are below the platform sections. Consequently a plurality of shelves 15 may be supported end-to-end without any intervening obstruction at all to provide a continuous supporting platform surface.

In order to support the shelf 15 upon the uprights 11 and 12, a pair of brackets 23 and 24 are mounted at opposite ends upon the depending rear section 18 for adjustable engagement with the vertically spaced slots 13 in the standards 11 and 12. Since the construction of the two brackets 23 and 24 are the mirror-image of each other, only the construction of bracket 24, as best disclosed in FIG. 2, will now be described.

The bracket 24 includes a first plate member 25 having a height sufficiently great to span the vertical distance between the horizontal wire rods 26 and 27 forming a part of the depending rear section 18. The upper and lower edges of the plate member 25 are turned forwardly and are provided with forwardly projecting corner lugs 28, 29, 30 and 31. The upper lugs 28 and 29 have downwardly bent portions 32 and 33 extending in front of the rod 26, and lugs 30 and 31 are provided with upwardly bent portions 34 and 35 to engage in front of the lower rod 27. This lug construction permits the plate member 25 to slidably move longitudinally of the shelf 15, or horizontally or transversely of the standard 12. The reciprocable limits of the plate member 25 are governed by the spacing of the upright wire rods 37 and 38 against which the respective lugs 28, 29, 30 and 31 abut.

The upper right corner portion of the plate member 25 is provided with a laterally extending projection 40. Although the projection 40 is also extending rearwardly to pass through and engage a slot 13, it will be understood that the projection 40 could extend laterally in the same plane as the plate member 25, if the slot 13 and the standard 12 were correspondingly arranged and rotated through from their disclosed position. The projection 40 includes a neck portion 41, an enlarged upwardly directed tang 42 and an upwardly diverging bottom edge 43. Thus, if the total height of the projection 40 is greater than the height of the slot 13, as disclosed in the drawings, then the front portion of the shelf 15 will have to be tilted upwardly so that the tang 42 can pass through the slot 13, with the bottom edge 43 approximately horizontal. Then, when the tang 42 has passed behind the slot 13, the shelf 15 can be counterrotated to its horizontal load-supporting position. The neck portion 41 will then rest in the slot 13 and the tang 42 will extend upwardly above the top of the slot 13 and behind the standard 12 in order to lock projection 40 in position.

The bracket 24 also includes a second plate member 45 abutting flush against the rear face of the first plate member 25 as best disclosed in FIG. 2. Fixed in the front face of the second plate member 45 are a pair of headed pins 46 which extend through a vertical elongated slot 47 in the first plate member 25. The enlarged head portions of the pins 46 hold the second plate member 45 in vertical slidable engagement with the first plate member 25. Extending from the right rear corner of the second plate member 45 is a lower projection 50 also having a neck portion 51 and an enlarged depending tang 52. As disclosed in the drawings, the total height of the projection 50 is less than the height of each slot 13. After the upper projection 40 is locked in its corresponding slot 13, the lower projection 50 is vertically slidably adjusted to register with a corresponding slot 13, through which the projection 50 is inserted. Then the neck portion 51 will be permitted to drop by gravity to the bottom of the slot 13 so that the tang 52 will extend below the bottom of the slot 13 to engage the rear side of the standard 12. In this manner, the shelf 15 will be securely locked in position.

It will therefore be apparent from the above construction that even though the spacing between the upright standards 11 and 12 might vary from one gondola to another, the bracket 24 may be adjusted accordingly by sliding the first plate member 25 along the rods 26 and 27 until the projections 40 and 50 are in vertical alignment with the slots 13 of the standard 12. Then, if the spacing of the slots 13 varies from one gondola to another, the lower projection 50 may be vertically adjusted with respect to the upper projection 40 because of the vertical slidable adjustment between the plates 25 and 45.

The bracket 23 is constructed in a similar manner to afford a double lateral adjustment for both ends of the shelf 15, and to permit uniform vertical adjustment for the slots 13 in both standards 11 and 12.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bracket for supporting a shelf on and transversely of a standard having vertically spaced slots, comprising:

(a) a first movable member having a first projection adapted to be received in one of said slots,

(b) means mounting said first member for transverse reciprocable movement on a shelf for reception of said first projection in said one slot,

(c) a second movable member having a second projection adapted to be received in another of said slots spaced from said one slot, and

((1) means mounting said second member for vertical reciprocable movement on said first member for adjustment of said second projection to be received in said other slot.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said first projection is above said second projection.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which each projection has a neck portion adapted to be received in said slot and a vertically directed tang adapted to engage the opposite side of said standard from said members.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which the tang on said first projection extends upwardly and the tang on said second projection extends downwardly.

5. The invention according to claim 2 in which said first projection has a neck portion and an upwardly directed tang, the total height of said projection being greater than the height of said one slot, and the bottom portion of said projection diverging upwardly from said first member to permit said projection to extend through said one slot when tilted.

6. The invention according to claim 1 in which said first member comprises a plate having an elongated vertical slot therethrough, said second member comprises a plate, and said means mounting said second member on said first member comprising pins projecting from said second member through said vertical slot, to permit relative vertical movement between said second member and said first member.

7. The invention according to claim 1 in which said first member comprises a plate, and said means mounting said first member comprises flange portions on said plate for slidably engaging a shelf.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,007,708 11/1961 Ochs 211-148 X 3,092,047 6/1963 Chelsey 248243 X 3,219,231 11/1965 Hare et al. 211l26 X 3,229,823 1/1966 Hummer 21 1148 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,246,787 10/1960 France.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A BRACKET FOR SUPPORTING A SHELF ON AND TRANSVERSELY OF A STANDARD HAVING VERTICALLY SPACED SLOTS, COMPRISING: (A) A FIRST MOVABLE MEMBER HAVING A FIRST PROJECTION ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED IN ONE OF SAID SLOTS, (B) MEANS MOUNTING SAID FIRST MEMBER FOR TRANSVERSE RECIPROCABLE MOVEMENT ON A SHELF FOR RECEPTION OF SAID FIRST PROJECTION IN SAID ONE SLOT, (C) A SECOND MOVABLE MEMBER HAVING A SECOND PROJECTION ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED IN ANOTHER OF SAID SLOTS SPACED FROM SAID ONE SLOT, AND (D) MEANS MOUNTING SAID SECOND MEMBER FOR VERTICAL RECIPROCABLE MOVEMENT ON SAID FIRST MEMBER FOR ADJUSTMENT OF SAID SECOND PROJECTION TO BE RECEIVED IN SAID OTHER SLOT. 